Heartdriven: Too Driven To Drive

24. Sore

    "It will grow back."
    Alice was trying to slightly comfort Sebastian for his loss, as he looked fully fresh faced without a scruff on his face shile putting his shaving gear away. His cheeks were a bit rosy, he wasn't angry, but seemed a tad annoyed by how her table tennis skills had walked all over his.
    "I would have to shave it before Barcelona anyway, so this is not the big win for you that you think it is," trying to downplay her achievement.
    "Well, I think you look very pretty." She kissed his cheek and lingered for a moment on the soft skin, moisturised and oily.
    The corner of his mouth lifted with a smirk, "I actually don't mind this as much as you think I might. Because now I know that you do actually have a sporty side and that you aren't completely athletically challenged. I just never would have guessed table tennis would be your thing."
    "We had a table at the youth center."
    "I played growing up too, almost as much now, but you just beat me like it was nothing— you didn't even give me a chance!", he almost looked impressed. No, not almost. He was.
    She shrugged and sat down on the bed, "I had to play with the adults because I kept beating the other kids and they wouldn't play with me," leaning back slightly... cocky.
    "Really?"
    Leaning straight back forwards, she took away her faked pride, "Okay, that's not true. The other kids wouldn't play with me because they didn't like me. But I like my version better."
    "We can get a ping pong table at home. I would play with you every day." He was so excited. And she knew he wasn't lying. He would play. Every. Day.
    "I know, babe. But I really don't like it."
    "How can you not like it?", he sat down next to her, sounding totally dumbfounded by that statement.
    "I don't like the way I become, the way I act. I get so competitive, I have to win. Look at my armpits," she lifted her arms to show him the waterfalls that had been leaking through the shirt.
    He grabbed both her hands and held them tightly in his, as the excitement in his tone continued, "And it was amazing. And quite sexy... the way you were jumping... and bouncing...," his eyes veered a bit south from her own.
    "Oh, so that's why you lost? You were distracted by my breasts? Well, I hope you enjoyed it, because it was the first and only time." She threw herself back on the bed, but his determination wasn't letting go of her hands.
    "Come on, Alice. You can work on it. You don't think I feel the same way the second I step foot in a car? But you learn to deal with it and get better at losing... you handle it better."
    He was making her remember their argument, when she had told him off about his behaviour during testing, but he was handling this much nicer than she had done herself. "Are you trying to use my own words against me?"
    "I think it's only fair you give it a try. After all, I listened to you," he finally let go of her hands, but in doing so, he followed her down on the bed, lying next to her.
    She had been holding back from raising her voice, but this called for it, "This is ping pong!"
    "I knew you had to have a flaw, so this is kind of wonderful to me. You, getting invested in a silly little game like it's life or death," the chubby and cheeky smile on his face was visible even through the corner of her eye.
    She rolled to him and draped her arm across his chest, trying to provoke him with banter again, "I think you are just trying to talk me down so you have a chance to beat me."
    "There it is. Now try to pulling it back a bit...", motioning with his hand to guide her along.
    And still, she had more, "Maybe I should play lefthanded." She smirked at him to let it be known she was only joking, and that smirk turned into another kiss on his warm cheek... warm and soft...
    "Alright, one step at a time. Getting you to play again, is a win for me." Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to lose to him...
    She had to stop herself from enticing him further into her ideas, as the oven was starting to smell like ready dinner, "You know what else is a win for you? We're gonna watch Shawshank while we eat."

    Eating first, showering second. She finally got him washed, as she convinced them to save water by doing it together. His chin turned red and he complained about itching on the newly shaved skin, but he had to take one for the team if he had any hopes of spending the night in bed with her.